Zlatan Ibrahimovic has spoken out about the continued vandalisation of his statue in Malmo, saying the culprits are at a “kindergarten level.”

The legendary striker had a statue unveiled in his hometown last year, but fans in the Swedish city did not react well to the news that Ibrahimovic had become a part-owner of rivals Hammarby.

Video emerged on social media in November of fans setting the statue on fire, the first of many attempts to vandalise the statue outside of Malmo’s Swedbank Stadion.

In addition, vandals have attempted to saw through the feet, cover it with paint, adorn it with a toilet seat and bombard it with fireworks. In December, the statue’s nose was cut off.

Now Ibrahimovic has hit out at the vandals who have damaged his statue, saying they have mostly been doing so to capture media attention.

“It’s a shame,” Ibrahimovic told Dplay. “They want attention and want the media to write about it – it’s at kindergarten level and we’re bigger than that.

“The statue was what it was, but that doesn’t mean that my story will be torn down, it will remain forever.”

Ibrahimovic began his professional career with Malmo before going on to represent a number of Europe’s top sides, including Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United.